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Graduate Programs


Sociology

The department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work offers three different graduate degree tracks in sociology: (1) Master of Science, Non-Thesis Option; (2) Master of Science, Thesis Option; and (3) Doctor of Philosophy. Our Ph.D. Students have been placed in many fine colleges and institutions. Those students who have earned Master's degrees at MSU have also been well placed in a variety of professional settings. Students, in conjunction with the faculty, tailor-made their program of study at MSU.


Prospective and Current Students Forms


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Anthropology Program

Anthropology website

Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Evan Peacock
Office: 105 Cobb Institute of Archaeology
Address: BOX AR, Mississippi State University, MS 39762
Phone: (662) 325-1663
Email: peacock@anthro.msstate.edu
Office of Graduate Studies at Mississippi State University

Application Deadlines*
Spring semester:
For consideration for assistantships: October 15
For completed applications: November 1
Fall semester:
For consideration for assistantships: April 1
For completed applications: April 15

*If the above dates fall on a weekend, the deadline is the next weekday.

Applicants for assistantships must have submitted complete applications, including GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and transcripts to the graduate school by the assistantship application deadline.

Applied Anthropology

Applied anthropologists use anthropological knowledge to solve practical problems for agencies, community groups, or other clients. They do fieldwork and employ other methods to gather data in specialties as diverse as cultural resource management, health care, historic preservation, economic development, museum design, forensics, and migrant settlement. Anthropologists' recovery and analyses of the data are aimed at providing solutions to particular problems faced by their clients. Applied anthropologists work both internationally and in the United States. There is a growing demand for anthropologists with practical experience and applied training to work in local, state, and federal government agencies and in private businesses and non-governmental organizations.

Program Description

Graduate study leading to a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology, with an applied focus, is offered by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work. Degree requirements include a thesis, a one-semester or one-summer long internship (6 hours credit), an oral exam, and 24 hours of graduate course work. Students may elect to specialize either in applied archaeology, including bioarchaeology, or in applied cultural anthropology.

The program in applied archaeology focuses on cultural resources management, including preparation in archaeological method and theory, proposal writing, consulting practices, and ethics. Specialty areas include archaeological surface survey and excavation methods; artifact analysis; settlement pattern analysis; environmental archaeology; and osteoarchaeology. The areal emphasis is the Southeastern U. S., although principles and methods are adaptable to application anywhere.

The applied cultural anthropology specialization emphasizes medical anthropology; program evaluation; and communication in multicultural settings. Ethnographic and qualitative research methods, as practiced in applied settings, are emphasized. The program focuses on preparing students for placement in the public and private sectors as cultural resource specialists and program evaluators, especially in medical settings, as well as preparing them for further graduate study.

Office of Graduate Studies at Mississippi State University

Degree Requirements

Students must complete 36 hours of graduate work as summarized below.

1. Foundation/core/general courses:

a. Leveling courses. Any student who does not have an undergraduate degree in Anthropology or who is deficient in core areas (cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and anthropological archaeology) will be required to take one or more of the following:

b. Core course. This course is required of all students who have not already taken it or an equivalent:

2. Courses required of all students in the MA program:

Courses in Archaeology/Bioarchaeology emphasis:

a. Leveling Courses. These courses are required of students who have not taken them and who do not have equivalent archaeological field experience:

b. Required Courses. Public Archaeology is required of students who have not already taken it or an equivalent. Readings in Archaeology: Theory is required of all masters students in the archaeology/bioarchaeology concentration.

c. 9-12 hours from the following list:

d. Up to 6 hours from the following list:

e. 6-7 hours technical speciality:

Students will choose two courses from one area or, with permission of their advisor, one from each of two areas. A list of possible courses is given below; it will be revised as appropriate to reflect courses added and deleted as programs make curriculum changes.

i.Soils/geomorphology:

ii. GIS and Remote Sensing:

iii. Resource management/impact assessment/business:

iv. Biogeography/advanced ecology:

Courses for Applied Cultural Anthropology emphasis:

a. 9 hours from the following list:

b. 15 hours from the following list:

Internship:

AN 8216 Internship in Applied Anthropology
Each student is required to participate in a summer or one-semester internship program. The student will receive six hours of credit for an internship lasting for the 10-week summer term or the 15-week semester. This requirement may be waived in lieu of prior appropriate documented work experience. Internships will be coordinated through the student's committee chair, who will monitor internship progress.

Thesis:

Each student will be required to write a thesis based on original research. Such research may be partly conducted during the course of the internship but the thesis must make a contribution to anthropological knowledge and may not be merely a descriptive or client-driven report. Students in applied cultural anthropology may not collect data during their internship without prior approval of their major advisor and the Institutional Review Board at Mississippi State University.

Transfer credits:

At least 15 hours of graduate course work plus six hours thesis credit and a six-hour internship (unless replaced by appropriate work experience) must be completed at MSU.

Graduate Curriculum*

*Each graduate course usually is offered once every two years.


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Current Graduate Students


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Technical problems, contact the Help Desk - Last modified: 05/09/2008 03:58:09 pm
Information about Mississippi State University, contact msuinfo@ur.msstate.edu.
URL: http://www.sociology.msstate.edu/graduate/